UNITED KINGDOM
Revised M&A rules in effect
The government revised merger and acquisition (M&A) rules to make it easier to block takeovers of companies when officials are concerned about risks to national security. The measures, which took effect yesterday, apply to businesses that make technology with military or dual-use applications, including computer hardware. The changes are to help keep the UK safe and sustain its reputation as an “open, trading nation,” the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in a statement. The changes were proposed last year. The change lets ministers intervene on certain grounds if the target UK business’ annual revenue exceeds £1 million (US$1.34 million), down from £70 million. The new rules also scrap a requirement that a merger needed to increase the combined firms’ market share to 25 percent before a review is started.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Amperex stock jumps
Shares of the world’s biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries jumped on their trading debut (IPO) as investors bet on rising demand for new-energy cars worldwide. Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL, 新能源科技) rose by the maximum 44 percent to 36.20 yuan (US$5.65) at 10:17am in Shenzhen, China, valuing the company at about US$12.3 billion. The manufacturer sold a 10 percent stake at 25.14 yuan per share in its initial public offering on May 30. Investors are confident that CATL can fend off rivals including Panasonic Corp and continue to win orders as automakers move toward electric vehicles. CATL, whose customers include Volkswagen AG, had reduced the size of its IPO by more than half compared with its original ambitions because of declining margins and a cap imposed by Chinese authorities on price-earnings ratios in IPOs.
NIGERIA
Sovereign fund shifts focus
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) is restructuring its portfolio to focus more on domestic investments after a drop in the currency wiped out foreign exchange gains last year. “The asset allocation strategy of NSIA has been restructured to reflect an increased focus on domestic infrastructure investments with 50 percent of future contributions to be dedicated to infrastructure,” the fund said in a statement yesterday. The fund, which last year had 80 percent of assets under management denominated in dollars, saw valuations decline after the central bank introduced policies that weakened the naira by at least 15 percent against the greenback.
INVESTMENT
Abraaj funds commingled
Middle Eastern investment firm Abraaj Group, which has been roiled by allegations of misused funds, commingled about US$95 million after it faced cash shortages, Deloitte said in the findings of a review. The accounting firm, which was hired by Abraaj to examine its finances, found that there was commingling of Abraaj’s own money in the healthcare fund and its fourth fund, according to a summary of the Deloitte report that was presented to creditors on Monday last week and seen by Bloomberg News. Money from Abraaj’s US$1 billion healthcare fund was used to pay management fees and other expenses, Deloitte said. Abraaj still owes US$94.6 million to its so-called Private Equity Fund IV, but all money has been accounted for and there is no evidence of embezzlement or misappropriation. Abraaj and Deloitte declined to comment.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day